Doing Extracurricular Activities for the Resume Boost

Why it’s more important to do extracurriculars for yourself and the impact they may have on society

By: Harriet Bennett

“This will look great on your college applications” is a phrase I heard all throughout high school, and now that I’m in my first year of university, it has switched to “this will look great on your resume.” Using applications or resumes to entice students to join a club may be effective, but it begs the question of whether or not they're joining for the right reasons. If students join a club in high school or university only because of the career benefits it might bring, it has an impact on both the club and society. 

The benefits of doing an extracurricular activity at any point during one’s schooling are monumental. Fred C. Lunenburg of Sam Houston State University wrote that “extracurricular activities serve the same goals and functions as the required and elective courses in the curriculum. However, they provide experiences that are not included in the formal courses of study.” Lunenburg demonstrates that extracurriculars can be very beneficial because they provide real life experiences. This could be especially beneficial in a university setting because one could get experience in the field they’re interested in working in, which is both beneficial to the student and potentially impressive to the employer.

With over one thousand student groups at the University of Minnesota, students are bound to find at least one club they’re interested in or at least one club that relates to the career field they would like to go into. However, many of the meetings for these clubs are not mandatory, and students are able to attend as many or as few meetings that they would like. Because of this, it could be really easy for someone to say that they were in a club when in reality they only attended a meeting or two. 

Extracurricular activities can look impressive on resumes, especially if the activity is something that someone had a leadership role in. However, the problem is when students only join these activities because of the boost it gives their resume. Websites such as Indeed.com, a popular employment website, stress that one should include extracurricular activities on their resume “when you need to show leadership skills,” “when you need to demonstrate technical skills,” and “when you are short on experience.” If someone needed to do any of these things, an extracurricular activity (especially in their prospective career) could really boost their resume. 

However, if students are doing the activity only to boost their resume, there could be some potential problems. For example, if someone only did an extracurricular to put it on their resume, they might not have fully participated in the activity and received the full benefit of it. But if an employer hires them because they see this activity on their resume and are impressed, they would not be getting the employee they think they are. 

Joining an extracurricular activity because it will give you experience in a career is a great reason to join. However, it becomes problematic if the person isn’t putting in enough work for the club, especially if they are in a leadership role. They probably wouldn’t be putting enough effort into the position, and therefore both the club and its members would suffer. This individual also wouldn’t be receiving the full benefits of the activity. They wouldn’t be getting all of the experience that they could get, and a huge reason to join clubs is to get experience. 

Further, Lunenburg states that “extracurricular activities are said to be integrative in nature because they tie together many areas of knowledge and experience.” Put most simply, this is why people should join extracurriculars, especially in college, for the benefits they give. These activities are able to give university students real life experiences while tying knowledge into it. Moreover, students can learn about their prospective careers while participating in something fun and beneficial.

Joining an extracurricular activity in university can have many benefits for students if they join them for the right reasons. They can provide experience while looking good on resumes. However, this shouldn’t be the only reason students join. Ultimately, extracurriculars can help students make friends and other connections, and have fun in the midst of stressful times.